Trip to Amsterdam, Luxembourg & Brussels

Joining the tour was almost perfect except for one major blunder on the booking arrangement for our last days trip on May 13th. The hotel reservation was short one day. After an exhausting whole day tour to Bruges we have to be transported to another hotel since we were only booked until May 12th.(Short 1 day). This caused a lot of frustration on the group because we were too tired. Majority of the 45 tour group members were elderly which cause so much difficulty. It was a stressful experience since we have to quickly haul our luggage to the designated room, grab a quick, late dinner and meet with the (very competent and patient) Tour director for the last day departure briefing. My room mate and I did not have sufficient rest because we have to leave for the Brussels airport at 3:00a.m. to catch the 6:30a.m. flight back home to the United States. It is vital that Goaheadtours will make a concerted effort to review,plan and implement positive changes in the booking arrangement (hotel) and notify the tour group several days ahead of time (if is absolutely necessary due to unavoidable circumstances) to avoid unnecessary distress and inconvenience. Overall, it was a fascinating one's in a lifetime trip. Sincerely, Edna Wu & Theresa Lee

An amazing trip that I'll never forget!

This guided tour is a great introduction to Europe in general if you're a first-timer like I was. Our tour guide was extremely attentive, knowledgeable, approachable, and friendly. She really did make us all feel at ease and excited about the places we were visiting. Upon arrival at every major city, our tour guide offered an optional walking tour of the vicinity of the hotel. These walks were invaluable for getting to know the area and making note of major landmarks, especially if you wanted to go off and explore independently. Amsterdam is a charming and fascinating city. My boyfriend and I went to the Heineken Brewery tour even though it was not part of the Go Ahead program. We had a great time. It was so much fun to walk around Amsterdam during the day, but I would avoid wandering around at night as the general atmosphere doesn't feel very safe. Just to give you an example - almost every single person in Amsterdam wears a dark leather jacket and knee high combat boots. A bit intimidating. The Bruges excursion is definitely a must see. There are tons of gift shops, horse drawn carriages, chocolatiers, bakeries, cobble stone streets, breath-taking architecture, and so much more to see there....you have to do it. My only criticisms with the tour in general are when we first arrived in Amsterdam. We arrived three hours before we were able to check into our hotel which was at 3pm. Our room was ready at 2:30pm but I didn't like having to walk around outside for 2 and a half hours after being extremely jet lagged, hungry, and in need of a shower. My boyfriend and I were basically on our own for the entire Paris extension since all the optional excursions were cancelled due to low attendance. I didn't mind though since we're both in our 20's and wanted to do our own thing apart from the rest of the group who were comfortable with a much slower pace in terms of sightseeing. On our own we managed to see the Eiffel tower, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, and the Louvre which were all incredible. We did not see Versailles because it was too far away and our tour guide warned us about never-ending lines to get into it. The low point of my trip in Paris was when I got stuck in the doors of a subway car. I wasn't hurt but it was scary. The subway cars are packed to the rim with people but the doors WILL close on you if you don't shove your way in fast enough. That said, be very careful when taking the metro in Paris. I also would have preferred if the group dinners allowed travelers to sit in separate groups instead of all at one table. In Amsterdam, the included dinner was at a restaurant very close to one of the red light districts which was a bit unsettling. The food was bad and the table in the restaurant was tiny and narrow and reminded me of a school cafeteria. The other group dinner that I attended in Brussels was fine though. The hotel restaurant was much more spacious and the food was tasty. All in all...it was loads of fun and I can't wait to travel more!!

Tour Director is a Gem!

The wonderful sites and scenery were only enhanced by Ildy, our knowledgeable and caring tour director. She always went the extra step to ensure that each and every traveler had the best experience possible. We all considered ourselves very fortunate to be under her guidance.

good toour, guide and bus driver

Excellent tour, guide and driver. Find a way to include the Anne Frank House Museum. Delft and Flower Market were worth seeing. Hague was not.

Amsterdam, Brussels & Luxembourg

This trip was full of surprises!!..the country was so beautiful & the architecture was outstanding!!..the tour was more pleasant due to it's small size & everyone was so prompt in returning to the bus on time...the highlight for me was the tour of Bruges which was simply wonderful & felt like we had been deposited back in time to the Medieval era..the trip to the Hague was amazing & we got a chance to see the North Sea coastline...it was beautiful. & also many museums, Van Gogh paintings & Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring' was a real highlight..the canal rides gave us all a chance to view the cities from a different perspective while relaxing over dinner with good wine!!!....& the scrumptious Belgian chocholates!!!...what else can I say!!!

great trip

wonderful places, food, history.

A very nice tour

This is a very nice tour. Amsterdam, Luxembourg and Brussels are nice cities that have a nice mix of old and new. I was amazed at how clean each city was. The pace of the tour is very nice. You can take the options or view each city at your own pace. I do highly recommend the optional tour to Bruges....it is a lovely old city and you have plenty of time to explore both with the group and on your own. All the hotels were very nice and clean. I had a single room and the room was not claustrophobic like many single rooms can be. There are plenty of nice and reasonable restaurants near the hotels so dinners on your own are not bad. On a personal note, we all became very fond of Cherry beer which we enjoyed several times in Brussels.

Best group of travel cohorts

We had an excellent trip. The guide, Atto Sutarp was the best. He was charming, knowledgeable and went out of his way for extra service, "with a smile" I'll add. There were no gliches along the way and much laughing and pleasure. The group of travelers were also good. There were no pests! I am ready for another adventure.

Pleasant,Informative Tour of Holland

Main tours were very interesting and pleasant. Optional tours were especially worthwhile. Hotel room in Amsterdam was too cramped and uncomfortable, but the food was O.K. Hotels in Luxemburg and Brussels were very good.

First Solo trip

I loved the fact that Go Ahead uses groups of less than 30 and as a first time solo traveler felt very comfortable and safe. This trip had a fantastic tour guide that made the trip so worthwhile.